


By Candlelight

by afterandalasia



Series: Femslash Yuletide 2014 [19]
Category: Cinderella (1950), Frozen (2013)
Genre: Arendelle, Crossover Pairings, Elsa Has Ice Powers, F/F, Femslash Yuletide 2014, Lesbian Elsa, Post-Frozen (2013), Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 01:12:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2832776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afterandalasia/pseuds/afterandalasia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elsa is just about brave enough to allow Anna to arrange her birthday party for her. Of course, it does not exactly go without a hitch, but she does not expect it to go this <i>well</i>.</p><p> </p><p>Written for Femslash Yuletide Day Twenty-Three, "Candles".</p>
            </blockquote>





	By Candlelight

**Author's Note:**

> As taken from the 2013 prompt list, because I am nothing if not consistent.
> 
> (Missing days should get filled in eventually.)

"You know," said Elsa, "I would have thought that after last year, you wouldn't be so keen on a large celebration."  
  
Anna rifled through the chocolate wrappers, retrieved an uneaten one, and flicked it in Elsa's direction. Though Elsa's hand was not quite fast enough to reach it, ice enfurled it and stretched back to her hand, drawing the chocolate back in. "It'll be fine," she said. "Besides, Christmas and the New Year and my birthday went fine-"  
  
"I think 'fine' would be overstating your birthday," Elsa pointed out.  
  
"It worked out," said Anna, shrugging. "But that is also why I was thinking something more... traditional for your birthday."  
  
"Inviting half the Kingdom to one ball is not traditional." Elsa cracked open the chocolate and nibbled at the praline inside. Large guest lists were not all that uncommon, at least in years gone past, but Anna seemed to be getting rather too enthusiastic about things for Elsa's liking.  
  
Still searching for the last few errant chocolates, Anna scrunched up her nose. "Oka-ay," she said. "How about a couple of thousand. The castle is big enough for _that_."  
  
"A couple of..." Elsa looked at Anna in absolute horror. "You are mad. That chocolate has obviously rotted your brain, and I demand that you hand it over immediately."  
  
She made a grab for the box, but Anna rocked back out of reach, almost toppling her chair in the process and setting them both laughing. In a flurry of wrappers, Anna finally unearthed a chocolate, tore off the paper with her teeth and popped it into her mouth. "No' happening," she mumbled around the chocolate. "I can totally handle this. Trust me."  
  
"If I do let you arrange my birthday party," said Elsa slowly, "then you have to _promise me_ that you will let Gerda assist you. And no chocolate fountains," she added, as Anna's grin grew fit to split her cheeks in half, "and no... wrecking the place."  
  
"What do you think I'm going to do?" said Anna, laughing.  
  
Elsa gave her the sternest look she could muster. "Are you _sure_ that you want me to answer that?"  
  
Pulling one last chocolate from the box, Anna flicked it into her sister's face. Which seemed to just about sum things up.  
  
  
  
  
  
The next few months passed smoothly, although occasionally Elsa would be aware that Anna was planning something. She would turn Elsa away from doors, or Elsa would see her hurrying to hide boxes out of the way. But, occasional misgivings aside, Elsa trusted her sister to turn out a celebration that would... definitely be something to remember. At the very least.  
  
Her fears turned out to be groundless. As the sun set, Anna finally let Elsa out of her suite, where she had been all but ordered to remain during the day, to find the castle arrayed, opened, doors flung wide.  
  
Silver and blue swags framed the windows, and sprays of silver leaves had been mixed in with the flowers that framed the doorways. Most beautiful of all, though, were the candles, thousands of them filling every room with a soft, warm light. Elsa had to stop in amazement as she reached the Great Hall, and felt herself blush as people turned, applauding.  
  
"You need a mask," said Anna firmly.  
  
Elsa waved down to her dress. Her ability to control the fine details of her work were still developing, still growing, and even with all humility she would say that her work was improving. Fine patterns whorled across the bodice of her dress, and she had  managed to create a frame of ice that shaped the skirt of her gown to something rather more like the current fashion. Her hair was up, studded with ice, and chips of ice as large and clear as diamonds glittered at her neck without even need of a frame of gold to hard them in place. "I think I might be a little recognisable," she said.  
  
"Just play along."  
  
With a wry smile, Elsa summoned up a mask of ice and lifted it into place. As it came into contact with her skin, it settled in place, no need of ribbon.  
  
Anna pulled a blue velvet mask from her bag, edged in silver lace. "You know, I was going to give you this."  
  
Embarrassment flooding her, Elsa went to apologise, but Anna shrugged it off and laughed. "Yours looks better anyway. Now come on, let's go dance."  
  
She swapped the blue mask for one in green and gold, to match her own dress, waved to the band, and grabbed a masked man that was almost certainly Kristoff, to judge by how awkwardly he was tugging at the collar of his shirt. Before Elsa could protest at being left immediately, however, one of the servants was stepping forwards to introduce guests to her, and she fell back into the role of being Queen again. Mask or not, she was apparently unmistakable, and even when the crown was not there she could feel the weight of it.  
  
She was introduced to guest after guest, who then stepped away before putting on their masks and turning to the ball in general. Elsa could not help noticing that quite a number of them were unattached young men, and made a note to chide Anna for her would-be matchmaking as soon as she got the chance. Although she had at least been more subtle about it than the trolls.  
  
  
  
  
  
Finally, it seemed that the introductions were done, or at least that everyone who particularly wished to be introduced to the Queen of Arendelle had done so. The number of people around her suggested that far more had declined.  
  
The mask was not really a liberation. Other people would be able to speak as they wished without it ever being proven that they were the ones to speak the words, but Elsa knew full well that people knew when they were speaking or dancing with her. She could see it in their careful movements, in the momentary hesitation before some of them put their hands to hers. It took determination not to pull away when they did so.  
  
With time, though, they relaxed. People started to joke and laugh with her, and the band tried some of the new dances from further south which nobody quite knew and everybody - including Elsa - got slightly wrong. It led to plenty of amusement and, for want of a better term, broke the ice.  
  
Anna appeared out of nowhere to pull Elsa into a waltz, bemoaning that Kristoff just couldn't get the hang of it.  
  
"He probably knows some good troll dances, though," Elsa replied. For a moment, they both tried to take the woman's part until, laughing, Elsa shifted her hand and took the male role instead. Though she had never been taught it, she had been attentive enough in her dance lessons that she was quite sure she could do it well enough. "We could introduce those to court."  
  
"Can't be worse than Weselton," said Anna. She looked down to Elsa's feet. "Did you really dance this well all along?"  
  
"I was one for secrets. In case you hadn't noticed."  
  
"Yeah, you don't say," Anna said with a snort. But her smile remained in place. "It's good to see you dancing, though."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
The dance rolled on. They were not using dance cards, and it gave a less formal feel to everything, letting it flow more. She was not sure quite how they would have been used anyway. "So," said Anna, in an attempt at nonchalance. "Did you dance with anyone nice?"  
  
"Anna," Elsa groaned. She loved her sister dearly, but sometimes Anna could manage to be a bit overwhelming as well. "Even my councillors are not yet attempting to marry me off."  
  
"I'm not trying to marry you off! It's not about marriage," said her sister, squeezing her hand. "I just... want you to be happy."  
  
Elsa knew what she meant. If any of her councillors were thinking of her marriage prospects, they would be thinking of _politics_ and _suitable matches_. Anna had her own reasons not to care for such things - if Elsa craned her neck, she could just see Kristoff investigating the chocolate fountain which had apparently made an arrival despite being banned - but Elsa knew that it was more than that. Anna cared for _Elsa_ , rather than just for Arendelle. It was sweet, though Elsa feared that it was a position which she could not take herself.  
  
She sighed, but smiled. "Thank you," she said again.  
  
  
  
  
  
Elsa danced until her feet were sore and even she began to feel the heat of the room. It almost surprised her that she was enjoying herself, more so than she had managed to at any previous celebration. It was ridiculous, she knew; she was just as recognisable with a mask as she was without. But there was something liberating about the evening, nonetheless.  
  
Still, people could be exhausting. It was with no small relief that she slipped out into the gardens for a short while, letting the cooler outdoor air roll over her skin. Even if it was summer in Arendelle, it was not exactly blazing hot.  
  
The lull of music still drifted out into the garden. Elsa took a deep breath and let herself smile. She had a lot to thank Anna for.  
  
Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and he turned sharply, tongue ready to call for the guards. But it was only a glimmer of silver, and as Elsa took a careful step forwards she realised that it was another young woman, dressed in a silver gown that glimmered in the moonlight.  
  
The woman peered around one of the trees, skirt held delicately above the grass. The mask she wore was practically silver filigree, and her shoes where they peeked out below her dress were crystal-clear. Elsa felt a flutter of curiosity, not least at how the woman looked around like she was drinking in the sight of the gardens, not just looking for the party.  
  
Reaching up to make sure that her own mask was still in place, Elsa stepped forwards out of the trees. The woman spun as Elsa cleared her throat, then gave a very slight dip.  
  
"My apologies," said the woman. "I did not know that there was someone else here."  
  
It dawned upon Elsa that this woman had not recognised her as the Queen. Nobody would dare to speak to her first - only Weselton had been bold enough to speak before she had acknowledged him, and since she had come into her own she had found that she could rather... intimidate people.  
  
She could have told the woman, she knew. But there was something so... freeing about it.  
  
"It's no problem," said Elsa. She dipped her knee in return, knowing that she had not done so in years. It felt a little stiff. "I'm sorry that I startled you."  
  
The woman smiled. She was beautiful, with golden hair, warm eyes, and a tender smile. "I should know better than to daydream. My name is-"  
  
"No!" Elsa cut her off, mostly playfully. "This is a masquerade ball, after all."  
  
For a moment, the woman looked at her without saying anything, then she laughed. "I suppose so. In which case... I remain anonymous."  
  
"Would you like to dance?" said Elsa impulsively. She had been dancing for much of the evening, and enjoying herself, and though it had been strange to so thoroughly do away with her concerns for the evening she thanked Anna for the opportunity to have done so.  
  
"Here?" said the woman, glancing around.  
  
Elsa smiled. "Why not?"  
  
It was a masquerade, after all.  
  
  
  
  
  
The waltz played, and they danced in the gardens and talked about the stars and flowers. Somehow they slipped down talking about how nice it was to dance, and before Elsa knew it she was admitting what she wished for the future, for stability.  
  
The woman with whom she danced looked up at the castle, and her expression softened. "I always dreamed of seeing this," she said.  
  
Her smile was sad and sweet and distant, and Elsa had the strangest feeling that her heart was breaking.  
  
They were still dancing, still talking, when Anna pushed through the bushes next to them. "There you are!" she said to Elsa. "I've been looking for... oh," she added, catching sight of the woman and giving a little wave. "Sorry."  
  
"My sister," said Elsa, by way of explanation, as she slipped out of the woman's arms. It was as if she had been _caught_ , an absurd notion. She could dance with whomsoever she wished. She smiled to Anna. "I was just taking some air. It felt only right to offer the lady a dance."  
  
And a second, and a third. She had lost track of how much time she had been out here, with the stars and the trees and the woman in the glimmering silver dress.  
  
"It's nearly midnight," Anna said. "The demasking. Come on!"  
  
She reached out her hand to Elsa, grinning behind her mask. Though Elsa had not known that the masks would be removed, she had half-expected that it would be the case. Taking a deep breath, Elsa turned to the woman with whom she had been talking.  
  
"Will you accompany us?" she said.  
  
It was a courtesy, put simply; it would be expected that as many people as possible would squeeze into the Great Hall to see the masks of the other party-goers removed. What Elsa did not expect was the look of horror that crossed the woman's face; she span, looking around until her eyes alighted on the clock. "Midnight?" she said.  
  
Anna shrugged. "Time flies!"  
  
"I have to go," the woman said. She hitched up her skirt with one hand, but Elsa managed to catch hold of the other. "I... the Queen. It is her party. I should pay my respects."  
  
"I-" Elsa went to protest, but the women pulled her hand away and fled.  
  
"What the..." Anna looked between the two of them in bewilderment. "What happened?"  
  
The woman truly had not recognised her. A few other dancers had pretended not to do so, but Elsa had seen in their eyes that they were nervous of their games, torn between amusement and concern of being caught. With them, she had played along. But Elsa was so astonished that, at least for a moment, she could do nothing but stare at the woman's retreating back.  
  
Then the world snapped back together. Elsa ran after the woman, in confusion and desire not to lose even the words that they had shared. Her skirt tangled in her legs, and with half a thought she let it flow back as it had once been, simple and unframed and slit up to her thigh to let her run properly.  
  
She reached the only doors open to the garden, to find a confused footman standing guard there. "Which way did the woman go?" said Elsa. Nobody asked for explanations from the Queen.  
  
"That way, Your Majesty," the footman replied. He pointed down the hall, towards the servant's entrance to the castle, and pretended not to see his Queen break into a run in the indicated direction.  
  
  
  
  
  
By the time that they reached the door, Anna out of breath and Elsa only a little less so, the woman was gone. Elsa looked around, and the temperature of the air dipped around them.  
  
"Who was that?" said Anna.  
  
"I don't know," Elsa replied softly. And yet she wanted to. In the distance, the clock began to strike midnight. In the distance, she could hear the rattle of a coach's wheels, but there was no sign of it. She sighed, and reached up to rub her forehead, more annoyed than she really had a right to be at losing a woman she had been speaking to for... a few hours, at most.  
  
Anna trotted down a few of the steps. "What is _that_?" she said.  
  
As far as Elsa could see, _that_ appeared to be her older sister having been made to look a complete fool. When she opened her eyes, though, she saw Anna pick something up off the stairs, glittering in her hands.  
  
"Wait, what?" Elsa slowly walked down the stairs herself. "Is that a shoe?"  
  
"It feels like glass," said Anna.  
  
Which was, of course, ridiculous. Oh, shoes could be made of inflexible fabric, but the results were wooden clogs or something of that sort. Elsa did not think that she could have made shoes of ice for anyone else; certainly they would not be so well fitted that they could have danced in them. As Elsa reached out and took the shoe from Anna's hand, however, it clearly _was_ glass, but as fitted and delicate as any silk slipper.  
  
She looked at the shoe in complete confusion. "Glass," she echoed. "Glass shoes."  
  
  
  
  
  
Elsa tried to pretend that her annoyance was solely to do with missing the unmasking at midnight, but Anna was far too good at reading her for that. She sat on the far side of Elsa's desk the following morning - though technically, it was later the same morning, and early for Anna in any case - with the shoe sitting pointedly between them.  
  
"What are you planning?" said Elsa finally, after her third attempt to read the same paragraph failed.  
  
Anna grinned. "We should find her. The woman from last night."  
  
"Do you really think that's going to happen? Unless you actually kept track of every person to whom you sent an invitation..."  
  
Anna's blush said enough.  
  
"Exactly. I will consider it a learning experience... and move on."  
  
"I bet I can find her," said Anna, picking up the shoe. "With just this. And the fact that she was wearing a silver dress and had blonde hair," she added, as if the actual physical description was an afterthought. "I mean, she had to come from a rich family, wearing a dress like that. And this looks really tiny."  
  
She hoiked her own foot up onto her lap and pulled off her shoe. Before Elsa could even begin to protest, Anna lined up her own stocking-clad foot with the glass slipper, but it was too small and narrow for her to do anything else than dangle it off her foot.  
  
"Please try not to break that," said Elsa, surprised by the tension in her own voice.  
  
"It's fine," Anna replied, putting the shoe back on the desk again. "But I still bet you that I can find her."  
  
"I'm not in the mood to place bets."  
  
Anna leant back in her chair, folded her arms across her chest, and gave a triumphant smile. There was only one way that this was going to end, no matter how steadfastly Elsa tried to ignore her or read the work in front of her, and finally Elsa sighed and put down her pen.  
  
"Very _well_ ," she said. "Go and try to find her. I just..." It took her a moment to be able to admit it - the ache in her chest, the way that the woman had made her smile. "I'd like to talk to her again."  
  
"Psh, please. I'll find her before sunset," said Anna, grinning as she got to her feet. She folded the shoe back into the blanket in which they had placed it, for lack of any other ideas of what to do with the blasted thing. "Just you watch."  
  
  
  
  
  
In reality, it took her two days. "I never said _which_ sunset," said Anna vaguely, but Elsa could not bring herself to be even slightly annoyed at the the smug, happy smile on her sister's face.  
  
The woman beside her wore a servant's clothes, faded and worn but clean, and held herself like a lady all the same. At first glance, Elsa was uncertain, though her hair would be much the same shade and even though she wore one glass slipper. But then their eyes met, and Elsa was certain.  
  
"Your Majesty," said the woman softly, curtseying. Somehow, it looked more elegant than it had done the first time that they met.  
  
"Queen Elsa," said Anna, still smiling broadly, "may I introduce to you Eleonora Tremaine, of the Tremaine estates."  
  
"Reintroduce, perhaps," Elsa said. Her throat felt dry, her chest tight, but when she reached out to offer her hand to the woman named Eleanora her hand hardly trembled at all. "For I believe we have met before. Might I know you by another name?"  
  
"I doubt it." She slipped her hand into Elsa's, her skin warm to the touch and rough, without white gloves to disguise them. "Before now, I was mostly called Cinderella."


End file.
